In Yu Moji's view, no matter how grand the banquet is, the most important thing is the food on the table.

She was not a fool, and knew that there were many things worth doing at the banquet in the imperial capital. A junior sergeant like her, who has little status, usually wants to get ahead as quickly as possible. For them, the most practical thing at the banquet is naturally to take the opportunity of this gathering of all kinds of celebrities to get in touch with some nobles who they can't see on weekdays, and try their best to build some relationships that they can use in the future.

This is, of course, an approach that can easily attract criticism. In the huge imperial capital, there are always some people who claim to be a clear stream, and they are very disdainful of this kind of forcible establishment of shortcuts.

But Yu Moji didn't think so.

The relationship between people is not something that can be established casually with a few words; The dignitaries and nobles at the banquet had long been accustomed to these things, so how could they not understand the thoughts of the young people who came to cling to them?

Therefore, in Yu Mojian's opinion, those colleagues who can really take the opportunity of the banquet to go through the official career must also have some ability. One more way to show one, one more opportunity to put these skills to use.

However, understanding is understanding, and Yu Moji can't do the same thing.

Because she doesn't have that kind of ability.

After the banquet came down, Yu Moji had gradually accepted the reality - except for eating, there was usually nothing left for her to care about at the banquet.

Her official position and military rank are not very high, and when she occasionally leaves the Cardinal for banquets, she usually follows Lu Chen and Yuan Yizhi; Even if it was a small banquet that didn't require a character of their level to appear, Yan Zheng and Ling Ai would be there. Because of these long-sleeved colleagues who are good at dancing by their side, Yu Moji has almost no chance to speak.

At the same time, Yu Moji is also very clear about his own details. After all, she suffered the loss of her background, and in her miserable childhood, she never had anything to do with such occasions, and she didn't even have an object to imitate and learn. Coupled with the fact that she has always lacked practical training, the gap with others is almost completely unable to catch up. When his colleagues were talking lotus, Yu Moji's clumsy social rhetoric had not yet taken shape. Until now, her ability to speak at the banquet is probably not as good as the youngest daughter of a wealthy family who has lived in the boudoir for a long time and has not yet come out to see the world.

Every time she had to go to the banquet, Yu Moji was envious, and finally found a home for herself, usually staying in one place with those cups, plates and bowls that were as silent as her.

Many times, Yu Mochen herself felt that even if her colleagues deliberately gave her some opportunities to speak, she would definitely start to be embarrassed if she couldn't say ten words.

At the various banquets he attended after entering the Cardinal, Yu Moji almost always silently blended in with the background, and rarely took the initiative to attract the attention of those at the table. Therefore, this sudden act of walking to the center of the hall and directly exposing herself to everyone's eyes was the first time in her life.

Earlier, in the midst of the mask and the aroma of wine, Yu Moji had already felt a little lost, but he just forcibly controlled his mind; Now that she has suddenly encountered this one, she can't react for a while.

She followed the person who came to pull her forward in a daze, and before she could think of what kind of expression to make, the people around her had already taken action, personally demonstrating to her how to react at this time - gossip and singing were put aside for the time being, and these people who were usually bound by etiquette and law, even if they temporarily gave up their identity under the mask, they could not give up the etiquette they had been exposed to all their lives.

Far or near, they naturally raised their glasses towards the ink marks, as a way to show a little respect that no one really cared about.

At this moment, Yu Moji was already a little stunned by this battle, and there was only one thought left in her mind—she thought to herself that if she toasted these toasts back one by one, would she be drunk and into a mess?

Fortunately, the person who pulled her did not give Yu Moji a chance to do such nonsense.

In the center of the hall were not only the ink marks and the masked man, but also the female singers who were in charge of playing the silk and bamboo orchestra.

This is actually a thing that doesn't make sense. The world outside the Jiayuan River, especially the imperial capital, rarely has the same arrangement. On banquet occasions, singing and dancing are always only a supporting role, so they usually stay in a corner from afar, adding to all kinds of flowing emotions, or just take a small boat or an attic, and at the same time devote their life's strength to serving a family, and at the same time very self-consciously draw the boundaries between people from different classes.

Today, in the center of the most important hall is a female singer who could only be used as a foil. This may be a special rule on the ship, and the ink marks are unknown. But she liked the setup – who was born to be a foil?

Unlike the guests who sang and drank wildly, these female singers did not wear blank masks, but only covered their faces with light veils - the texture of the scarves was soft and thin, and the layers of layers did not completely hide the beautiful faces of the female singers, but added a kind of shadowy, mysterious and ambiguous beauty.

Suddenly, several dancing servants stepped forward and pulled Yu Moji into their ranks.

Yu Moji felt extremely embarrassed.

She'd never tried to dance, but she was sure she wouldn't be able to do the same graceful movements as these supple girls.

Yu Moji paused for a long time, and finally did not take a single dance step. Seeing this, the dancers were no longer reluctant, but silently left the ink marks in place and followed her.

The wine glasses that had been saluted to Yu Moji fell one by one. It turned out that their previous respect was all in exchange for the dance of the remaining ink marks.

Is this also the rule on the ship?

It's a pity that Yu Moji's strength is limited, and in the end, he couldn't get what they wanted.

The man under the mask seemed to be trying to alleviate the embarrassment. He stepped forward again, took Yu Moji past the women, and took Yu Moji to toast them in turn as a greeting.

The ladies who played the music saw Yu Moji's stupid goose-like clumsy appearance, and showed a little smile in their eyes exposed outside the light veil. They did not speak, but responded by playing a more passionate repertoire.

In this way, Yu Moji walked almost a full circle along the center of the hall, greeting the real protagonists of this feast one by one. Eventually, she was brought to a veil that hung down to the plank.

At this moment, the person who brought her returned to the crowd again silently. Everyone wore blank masks, and the men in the room wore similar clothes. Once this person decides to leave, he will enter the sea like a mud cow, and he will never let Yu Moji find a trace again.

His departure was very sudden, and Yu Moji was a little confused, but he also felt that it was not a very important thing. She doesn't necessarily know the person. She also didn't want to know him herself.

When a person wears a mask, he probably doesn't want someone to casually reveal his true identity.

For Yu Moji, the most important thing at the moment is probably to find Yuan Zhizhi who invited her here.

In the veil, will it be Yuan Zhizhi? Will there still be his unmarried wife Chai Jingliu?

She guessed half right.

Separated by a veil, the lively singing and dancing outside has become the background; In the veil, there is only a slender woman with a long body and a weak willow supporting the wind, who is looking down and concentrating, moving her wrist slightly, and slowly outlining a rather windy orchid under the brush.

Such a skill that is not inferior to Yuan Zhizhi, it seems that it should be Chai Jingliu.

Yu Moji was stunned, and said in his heart that this woman is really beautiful.

She is a person with low self-esteem, and it is not the first time that she has been ashamed of herself. But in front of such a beautiful female painter, Yu Mozhen only felt that he had lost very completely. Even when a little frustration rose in his heart, Yu Moji had to be ashamed of the small family anger represented by this frustration.

She stood there stunned, the woman who painted the orchid had already noticed her presence, and a pair of eyes that were slightly empty because of concentration instantly passed a little shock and doubt, and then gradually turned into a clear smile.

The woman's movement of putting down the brush was as smooth as when she swung the brush. She smiled and said, "You're Xiaoyu, right?" ”

Yu Moji nodded.

At this moment, she finally felt a little pain in her heart, because the female painter's smile looked so familiar, and the corners of her eyes and eyebrows all carried a little bit of Yuan Zhizhi - she had heard before that the closest people, the way they acted, the way they spoke, and their style, would affect each other, and so would their original expressions.

In fact, when it comes to getting along, the time that Yuan Yizhi can stay on the Jiangshan ship may not be as long as the time that Yu Moji follows him to study diligently to become a Yanshi.

But the closeness between people is not something that can be measured just by time.

This comparison between the quality of getting along is what makes Yu Moji feel the most bitter.

"You ......," Yu Moji opened his mouth with difficulty, "Are you still flowing?" She lowered her head a little embarrassed, "I'm really sorry, I was at a loss for a moment, and I called my name...... What shall I call you? ”

Shizuru nodded softly. "It's just a title, it doesn't matter whatever, we don't have any etiquette on our ship." Her smile was still like the breeze of early spring, and her cheeks were a little cold, "That's what you call me." It's good that you're just like him. ”

She said, and asked, "You've come earlier than I thought - have you just danced?" ”

Yu Mochen remembered Fang Cai's embarrassment, his face flushed slightly, and he could only shake his head.

When Shizuru comforted her with a smile, she looked the same as Yuan. "According to the rules of our ship, this picture scroll was supposed to be given as a thank you to the new guests today, because the new guests always have to go and dance for everyone. But since you are not dancing—" she said, and suddenly turned to one side, gently rolled up the veil on the side, and said to the other end of the veil, "Tell me, what shall I do?" ”